MOST to set up Israeli tech division

By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

Sat, Feb 10, 2018 - Page 3

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is to establish a new division in Israel to draw on that nation’s technological innovations and business models, a ministry official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The ministry has 16 overseas technology divisions that work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan’s representative offices abroad.

Israeli research on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and biomedical technology are robust, and businesses in Israel are experienced at developing new business models to turn technological achievements into marketable products, the official said.

“Taiwan and Israel are very similar — both are densely populated and have limited resources,” the official said, adding that Taiwan can learn from Israel about using a minimum of resources to achieve the greatest technological innovations.

With the new division expected to be officially set up by June, MOST intends to send Taiwanese talent to work at Israeli enterprises through its “Learn, Explore, Aspire, Pioneer” program, which has sent people aged 40 and younger to Silicon Valley and France for internships of between six and 12 months, the official said.

In other news, the nation’s participation in last month’s trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, was fruitful, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hsu Yu-chin (許有進) said yesterday.

At the trade show, the ministry led 32 start-up teams in exhibiting AI and Internet of Things technologies, “smart” wearables, and applications in “smart” biotechnology, “smart” medicine, virtual reality and augmented reality.

The start-up teams received purchase orders totaling US$600,000, with potential collaboration and investment expected to total in the millions of dollars, he said.

Before the show, Robotelf Technologies Co was awarded the Robotics and Drones Innovation Award for its home security robot, while iXensor Inc won one of the Best of Baby Tech Awards with its Eveline Smart Fertility System during the show, he said.